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NEWSLETTER - FEBRUARY 2005

This month, the volunteers enjoyed:

admiring amazing views of the Andes during all of the great tours included in the volunteer package,
swinging their hips during salsa classes and being the guests of honour at a local festival,
accepting cards and presents from 'secret admirers' on Valentine's Day,
judging the Second Larapa Olympic Games 2005,
teaching the kids and mother fun activities during summer school, and
treating the kids to a trip to the 'Picol Cinema' and to a Fun Park in Cuzco.

Gringos turning into amigos

Our volunteers came from all over the world this month - Australia, Germany, Scotland, England and Holland - to enjoy being both tourists and locals in Peru.

They started out with their 'gringo' tags on visiting the Sacred Valley of the Incas for a two-day tour as part of the Peru's Challenge program.

Together, we enjoyed the amazing snow-capped mountain range of the Andes, while bargaining for the best naturally hand-made llama wool belts and blankets in the country - well so their makers claim.

Half-way into the month, our volunteers were honoured with an invitation to attend a local festival 20-minutes outside of Cuzco, family home to our assistant Wilfredo.

We were the only 'gringos' invited to the special festival and the volunteers realised then that because of all our help, we are now considered 'amigos'. After dining on a very big meal of corn, potatoes and meat, it was time to paint our faces with pink chalk, put on our dancing shoes and join the local band on a dance through the streets to the main plaza.

Here we drew a big crowd - most likely due to our dancing technique (those salsa classes didn't do a great deal!)- who watched us jig around a tree for two hours with our partners. The aim was to cut down the tree that was loaded with sweets and prizes, while drinking beer and chicha (home-brew beer). The idea is that who ever cuts down the tree must decorate it next year with more sweets and prizes. Luckily, none of our volunteers have to return next year for the task.

Secret admirers from Cuzco

Being away from your home country and your normal daily life, you tend to forget or not even realise what the date is let alone the day of the week.

So the 14th of February, started out as a normal day at the volunteer house. All the volunteers walked up to the school for what they thought would be a day the same as any other.

Little did they know that each of them were to be given a card from a 'secret admirer' for el dia de amistad (Valentine's Day) and a little hand-made cotton bracelet.

The mothers of the community then spoilt each of them with more cards and home-made hot chocolate to show their friendship and gratitude.

Serious competition at the Second Larapa Olympic Games 2005

The three legged, wheelbarrow and egg-and-spoon races saw fierce competition, a little pushing and shoving and photo finishes at the recently completed Larapa Olympic Games.

All hell broke loose, when Team Four was caught cheating in the balloon-and-spoon race by holding on to their balloon with two hands. Felix brought the race (and the kids) back under control which resulted in a dead-heat between Teams One and Two and the disqualification of Team Four.

But Team Four was not discouraged for long, they came racing back with lightening speed and precise technique to take first place and a record time in the walk-like-a-crab race.

The Second Larapa Olympic Games 2005 officially closed with a spur-of-the-moment water fight with the unbroken balloons from the egg-and-spoon race.

Increase of attendance in the afternoon classes by 500%

At the end of February, our social worker registered over 70 mothers attending the afternoon art & craft classes. This is a huge increase on last year's attendance of just 14. And the quality of what is being produced keeps getting better and better.

This month we started classes in ceramics and painting, along with the usual classes of jewellery. The level of work that is being produced by the mothers is outstanding.

Some mothers had difficulty with the painting. Because they had never been to school, they never learnt how to hold a pen or paint brush properly. So they have put their creative talents to use by making beautiful necklaces and bracelets.

We are thrilled at the attendance rate and consistent improvements from the mothers. It proves to us that the effort and attention we are giving, not just the kids of Larapa but also their parents, is paying off. Each mother is becoming more independent as she is now making her own income through the afternoon classes. If you are interested in purchasing any of our products, please send an email to jane@peruschallenge.com.

Summer school finishes with lots of fun

What better way to finish the summer school classes than with an excursion to the Cuzco fun-park?

Again, the volunteers must pat themselves on the back for their great achievement - taking summer school classes every morning and afternoon with more that 60 children.

You should all be very proud of yourselves as the number of kids attending classes did not decline as can usually happen.

As a treat for all the kids that constantly attended classes, the volunteers organised for a trip to the local fun-park which was great fun as you can see from the photos.

A big thank you to the February volunteers for all your efforts: Jolanda, Karen, Rhiannon, Kimberley, Brigitte, Adrian, Tanya and Ano.

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For more information on all the great work done by Peru's Challenge volunteers, read previous newsletters.